Eternal Search
by ALbf17
Summary: On the run, as she had been since she became a vampire, Katherine decides to find some bliss in her solitary life, but trouble seems to follow her everywhere. After Klaus' presumed death, Elijah no longer seems to be bound by his brother's word and attempts to mend his relationship with Katherine. However, Katherine's past catches up her, causing trouble for both Elijah and her.
1. Almost Safe

**~ ETERNAL SEARCH ~**

Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of L.J. Smith's and CW's characters.

* * *

Rumor had it that Klaus was gone for good. Staked by the wood of the infamous white oak tree. But Katherine knew better than to believe rumors, especially since from her last conversation with Damon over the phone, it was clear that the Salvatore brothers that may have been turned by someone who was turned by Klaus, were well and alive.

So either, he was incapacitated somehow, or Klaus wasn't the founding bloodsucker of his line of turned Vampires and really was dead. But she didn't get her hopes up yet.

Far, or at least far enough from all the trouble that seemed to always be cooking up in the same damned town of Mystic Falls, Katherine attempted to enjoy her new-found freedom. Or rather, her temporary freedom. As a vampire, she had learned that trouble would follow you around anywhere eventually.

"Ma'am, are you going to buy that?" The short sales girl looked up at Katherine frightened. Gazing down at her own hand, Katherine found that she had almost ripped a hole into the dress she had clenched in her fist.

"Yes," she replied coolly. "And I'll take one of each of those dresses over there in my size." Materialism and vanity wasn't immune to Vampirism. Although they only brought her very temporary pleasure, she liked to indulge herself in them to keep herself distracted from her paranoia. Bliss was ironically only short-lived for a Vampire.

"Okay!"

Amused, Katherine took out her wallet with the money she had 'borrowed' from a generous blood donor earlier in the morning. Should be enough to cover at least half of those dresses. She'd have to 'borrow' some more after wards.s

"Whether you like it or not, I'm going to have every single piece of clothing in this store, Brother." Seemed like Katherine wasn't the only determined female here.

But when she looked up, she saw the unmistakable mane of blonde hair, belonging to no one but the miserable and despicable sister of Klaus, Rebecca. Terrified, Katherine scanned the store because there was bound to be a brother of hers around, which turned out to be…

"Elijah." With nowhere to escape in the light of the day and surrounded in a store full of people and cameras, Katherine had no choice but to charm her way out of this one.

"Ah Katarina. Seems that you too have resorted to returning to the place it all began, haven't you." By that, Katherine knew that he meant England, the place she was first introduced to the two brothers. And eventually left this country as a vampire.

"Well, it was temporarily, really. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to leave now, since trouble has caught up to me, _again_."

Elijah, however, did not appear merciful enough to let her escape, as usual. "I won't, as you put it, be any more trouble to you. As will my dear sister," he added, a little louder for Rebecca to hear, who looked up from a pair of shorts displeased.

"Klaus is dead now." The grief was clear on Elijah's face, but it wasn't enough to tame the wariness Katherine had accustomed to feel around him. "You won't have to run anymore."

"That's right," she replied hastily. Running was exactly on her mind right now. "Sorry about Klaus, but at least your brother had finally received what both of you had hunted me for a really long time."

Frowning, Elijah shook his head. "I never wanted to be a part of it. Klaus wouldn't have it."

"Really? Because it seemed to me that you played a big part in his whole scheme to make me a human sacrifice for him," she replied nonchalantly. "Babysat me when he was gone. Made sure that I would be provided for his personal use on the night of the sacrifice."

The betrayal she felt was buried deep within her, but she wouldn't ever allow herself to tell either one of the brothers that had toyed around with her head and feelings.

Skimming through a near-by rack of leather jackets, Katherine attempted to keep herself from making any eye contact with him, so that her eyes wouldn't give anything away.

Plus, things always got really ugly for her when one of the originals compelled her.

"To grant you some closure, I assure you that I didn't have a choice, but to submit to my brother's wishes. It was either that, or I too would've been killed. Survival is important to all of us after all, won't you agree?" The tone in his voice was light, but when she met his eyes, they were serious. Katherine averted her gaze away from his and shivered as she moved a bit further away from him.

"Well thanks for the 'closure', but I really have to get going," she retorted, in a sarcastically sweet manner. But Elijah cut her off to, blocking her way by standing amidst the two racks Katherine wanted to walk past to exit the store.

"I never wanted any of this, Katherine. Believe me."

This time, it was harder for her to keep the betrayal she felt from rising to the surface. "Why should I? Somehow, the sacrifice happened and she got out of it alive. Ironically, with _your_ help. Elena seems to be the only one worth saving."

"You found out about that? I thought you escaped as soon as you were released and didn't look back once."

"I kept in touch with people. I had to make sure that I didn't have to worry about your brother to compel me to torture myself again," she replied venomously. "Now let me go."

Smiling triumphantly, Elijah stepped out of her way and gestured to the exit. Unsure what he had meant by that gesture, Katherine decided to go ahead anyways, before he changed his mind.

"Oh, and Katarina? You're a bit wrong there. I did not entirely contribute to ensure that she would come out alive." Katherine turned to look at him, to see whether he was serious or not.

"I only suggested using a method to save her that I had originally come up with for a previous doppelganger. Had you actually been at the sacrifice _then_, you would've known that."

* * *

"Just dump the rest over there." Katherine gestured towards the large black couch. The two young guys she had compelled to carry her new wardrobe from the store obediently placed the shopping bags on the couch and left without a word.

Her last encounter with Elijah had been a very different one. The last time she had, what she now considered, a pleasant conversation was quite long ago. Ever since she had left England to see her family again, she had come to fear the Originals. The brutal murder had served as a reminder of what they were capable of ever since.

Shaking from the old, gruesome memory, she started skimming through the bags to find a color and style to start her wardrobe renewal off with. When she had gotten her new apartment, Katherine had made sure to choose one with a lavish walk-in closet.

Unfortunately, it didn't help much with her new worries that bubbled up within her upon seeing Klaus' siblings.

But what she still couldn't believe that after all that running and constant feeling fear they had made her go through, that Elijah once believed that she was worth saving. Gentle, yet emotionally detached Elijah.

"_I do not believe in love, Katarina."_

What a romantic fool she had been then. A fool she'd give anything up to be again. But Klaus took that away from her, and Elijah had made sure to keep the bait ignorant of her fate what was to come.

She decided she wouldn't believe Elijah because after all, a lot of time had passed since then. He could make all kinds of claims now, but it wouldn't change the past.

Katherine suddenly sensed someone in her apartment. "What do you want now, Elijah?"

But when she turned around, she found that it wasn't _him_. Not even close.

"Remember me?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment! **

**Also, please check out my Crossover story called "Transpire" - CW's Damon meet's L.J. Smith's Elena.**


	2. Violated

**~ Chapter 2 ~**

* * *

Katherine couldn`t decide whether she chose not to remember this insignificant person, or if she really just didn`t recognize her. Whatever the case was, Katherine was too pissed off to show any courtesy to the intruder.

Medium brown hair and a plain face. There was no way she'd even _want_ to remember that face.

"I don't care who you are or what you want, but you don't trespass into _my_ apartment," hissed Katherine dangerously. The figure, dressed darkly, just smiled back cockily. She appeared triumphant at Katherine's disarmed confidence.

"Quite defensive over your tiny apartment here, aren't you?" The young woman walked towards the black couch and sat down on its armchair. "Okay. Enough of this bull. Let's talk about our agreement that you breached."

An image of a pathetic young woman with glasses and mouse brown hair flashed Katherine's mind. A very distraught person…

"Dariea?"

Katherine had to control the urge to show her disgust with Dariea's slow, aggravating smile. How had this pathetic loser barely, who was barely able to keep up living life as a vampire, turn into _that_?

"Yes. There you go. You do remember me. Now, since you look like you won't talk, I'll have to drag you to my place, which is packed with a bunch of other vampires you don't want to get in trouble with. Oh, and don't think that I can't take you on. I've fed very well before coming here."

Since they were both vigilant vampires, they didn't have the advantage of the element of surprise, which is why Katherine had to opt for the ugly; a fair fight. And a risk of losing a hair or two.

Before she could get a hold of Dariea's throat though, a liquid was being thrown into her face. Screaming, Katherine willed the Vervain that burned like fire on her face to cool down and allow her to open her eyes, but she was already being dragged out of her apartment with Dariea's arm wrapped around her throat.

Dariea started off with a great amount of speed down the hall, but stopped abruptly. The pain having finally subsided, Katherine was able to open her eyes, but squeezed them shut at the burning she felt around her throat that had just been released from the killer grip.

Her hands at her throat, Katherine looked up at the new figure that had appeared.

"I'm afraid you will have to leave now. Step a foot in this building again, and I will make sure that it will be the last place you'll see." The threat came from a smooth, male voice, belonging to Elijah who held Dariea by her throat.

When he released her, she was gone instantly.

Katherine took his hand that he had offered, and stood up, trying to look as dignified as possible. She wasn't used to being rescued. That was more Elena's thing.

"Thank you." Avoiding any eye contact with him, Katherine straightened her shirt.

"I got rid of the other two watchdogs down there. You ought to be thanking me too," noted Rebecca arrogantly after she walked out of the elevator and headed in the direction of Katherine's apartment.

"Coming?" She asked, turning slightly to look back at Katherine and Elijah, who stood awkwardly next to each other in the hall.

Since she didn't have much of a choice, and sort of owed the siblings for scaring Dariea and her minions away, she had invited them to stay for a while. They'd probably want to know why Katherine was being dragged down the hall, by her throat.

Or only Elijah, it seemed. Rebecca was already skimming through Katherine's shopping bags, frowning every time she found a piece of clothing she owned too.

"I personally prefer coffee, but if you guys want tea, I don't mind making it," Katherine called out of her newly renovated kitchen. As modern as the times were, she still preferred the old-fashioned stove with hanging pots over it and jars of herbs lined up on the shelves.

"You go ahead and make your coffee. I'll help myself to the tea, if you don't mind." Elijah didn't even wait for an answer and instinctively grabbed a jar filled with English tea.

Although she felt violated, and a little uneasy in his presence, she replied with a confident, "Sure."

"This," Rebecca appeared at the door holding up a dark pink dress as Katherine handed a small porcelain teapot to Elijah. "This is not your color. I'm going to do you a favour by keeping it for myself." And walked away with that.

Since it really wasn't her colour, Katherine didn't object. After all, as much as she despised Rebecca, she had helped her. This little token of gratitude saved Katherine from actually having to thank her, which could seriously wound Katherine's pride.

"How did you guys know I was in trouble?" Katherine asked, as they were all seated in her living room.

Elijah took a sip from his tea, looking as calm and poised as ever. A small part of Katherine felt intrigued at the sight of his concealed demeanor, but she instantly reminded herself that this was Elijah, not Stefan.

"We saw that girl follow you," he simply replied.

"Smart as she was, she couldn't make it any more obvious." Rebecca chose not to drink anything, and from her constant sighs and distressed face expression showing up and every now and then, Katherine could tell that Rebecca was having a difficult time getting over Klaus' death.

Hadn't it been for all the trouble this family and the stupid curse had caused her, Katherine would've perhaps even felt sorry for them. Elijah seemed to be taking it a bit easier, although it was hard to tell, since his emotions never surfaced. That is, if he had any.

Over fifty years ago, Katherine had met Dariea, a desperate mess of a vampire, whose sister had been staked and turned into dust. Stupid as Dariea was, she had made a deal with Katherine, oblivious that she was just being fed with a bunch of lies.

Since Katherine was constantly on the run, she didn't worry about Dariea ever catching up to her. Unfortunately, having been so caught up with Klaus and his 'Sun and the Moon curse', she had completely forgotten about Dariea and the deal she had made with her.

"You do realize that you won't be able to hide in your apartment forever, right?"

Of course she didn't. But Katherine had to find a way to escape in the hope that none of Dariea's minions were lurking in the shadows. Dariea was desperate to find the secret as to how to revive her sister, which Katherine had promised her, in return of a few tasks.

And she was probably also desperate to get some payback at Katherine for not upholding her part of the deal.

"I do," replied Katherine, letting her mind run through various options. Then she realized something. "Did you compel her to stay away from here?"  
Elijah looked up surprised. "No. I don't need to compel anyone to be rid of them. Due to the fact that I knew little about her, I couldn't just banish her. Maybe you deserved it, but I needed to hear your explanation."

Katherine frowned skeptically at Elijah, who only smiled sheepishly in response. He was hiding something. And obviously not ready to help.

Although Katherine was older and stronger, a group of vampires ganged up against her, gave her few survival options. Perhaps she had to leave the apartment along with them, which would be pride-damaging, but safer. And then where off, _again_?

"You'll have to stay with us for now." It wasn't an offer. Elijah stood up, arms folded. It seemed that was aware of Katherine's new-found problems as he was.

"Brother, you can't be serious." Rebecca, who had been leaning lazily back on the couch, stood up as well. Her earlier, almost pleasant behaviour towards Katherine was completely gone.

"Rebecca, we are obligated to do so. Klaus had killed her entire family, and this is the least we can do to make up for it." He glanced quickly at Katherine, then back at his pouting sister. "She will stay in our mansion from now on."

Live with _them_? Now, Katherine felt really violated.


	3. Leverage

**~ Chapter 3 ~**

* * *

This had to be one of the most depressing and rainy days during her entire stay in England. Not that she'd been here for too long. But long enough to kill her hope for some sunshine, ironically.

She sighed as the let the curtain fall back in place, and turned around to examine her new room once again. It was a very beautiful mansion overall, but it was _so_ Elijah and Rebecca- style wise.

It shamed the Salvatore mansion with its grand terrace, lavish garden and very antique furniture.

If the sky hadn't looked so murky, Katherine might have actually enjoyed the sight of the neatly trimmed bushes, the tiny pond and the luscious red roses behind the heavy curtains.

Katherine's gloomy thoughts were disrupted by the sound of knocking. "Come in!" She called out, expecting it to be either one of the siblings.

When the door opened, she was greeted by a short, light-haired servant.

"Hello, Miss Katherine. The master requested that we bring in your belongings." The young lady curtseyed, and then stepped to the side to allow a line of servants carrying luggage and bags into Katherine's new room.

As odd as this was, Katherine attempted to be optimistic about her stay in the Mikaelson mansion. Better than being forced to face the sunlight without her ring, or having Vervain thrown into her face.

"I didn't order these," said Katherine bewildered as she glanced at the unfamiliar dresses that were being placed in her closet room.

"I did." Rebecca appeared at the door, looking as intimidating as always. "Don't put those two together. Those colors clash." She added to the dark-haired elderly lady.

As impressed as Katherine was, she didn't like the idea of being babysat by two Originals and dressed up like a Barbie. "Why are you doing this?"

"If you're going to live in my house, you're not walking around dressed like Lady Dracula."

Although Rebecca always spoke in a nonchalant and arrogant manner, Katherine suspected that she felt lonely without Klaus. And she was looking for a friend in Katherine, without making it too obvious. But unfortunately, Rebecca was as subtle as a gun.

Like human beings, Vampires searched endlessly for something. Something like companionship, or romance. Katherine wasn't sure. But something to fill the holes in their damned souls. Friendship was one thing that could fill the void a little.

"I guess you're right. It's just that I prefer to resemble my doppelganger as little as possible," she replied, careful not to show the manipulating force behind that statement. Elena, as Katherine knew, was a sensitive topic for many, especially for Rebecca as rumors revealed.

A flash of emotion, perhaps betrayal, showed on Rebecca's face and was followed with a frown and pout almost immediately. "I wouldn't either. Can't stand her. Somehow, she's got everyone wrapped around her finger." Rebecca walked towards Katherine's dressing table with a little bag and started arranging a few cosmetics on there.

Katherine decided that she might actually give Rebecca a chance. After all, having an Original as a friend could ensure her future security. She walked towards the dressing table and grabbed a few nail polish bottles to position them in order, according to color.

"Speaking of which- didn't you have the Salvatore brother's dancing to your tune once?"

_Yeah, a long time ago._ "Are you asking because of Stefan?" Katherine knew that Rebecca had a thing for him, since she had watched the two of them together. Perhaps she wasn't over him, which could work as future leverage for Katherine.

To her surprise, Rebecca shook her head, as she placed a handful of bracelets in a golden bowl.

"I did once. What about Damon?" Katherine recognized a hint of jealousy and insecurity in Rebecca as she had asked this, along with her usual attempt to quickly cover it up by acting as if she didn't care.

"Damon? Hmm…Damon, Damon, Damon…" Katherine didn't want to give the answer right away. It was too much fun to have Rebecca _wrapped around her finger, _allowing Katherine to be the one in control.

"Yes, _Damon_. Impossible to slip your mind," replied Rebecca irritated.

Katherine smiled mischievously before answering. "Damon and I just were never really compatible. We're too alike. Impulsive, driven by our own needs and too good-looking for our own good."

Rebecca scoffed, but the corners of her mouth were turning upwards, which meant that Katherine had a chance to bond with her.

"Your real threat would be Elena though."

"No, not anymore. After Klaus was killed, I made sure that Elena would disappear for good. She's caused enough trouble for everyone."

Katherine wasn't sure whether she found the news of Elena's death disturbing or pleasing. This would leave both Salvatore brothers sulking over her death, circling the globe for a couple more centuries until the next doppelganger showed up.

Rebecca's phone interrupted the silence between them, and she picked up instantly. "Hello?"

Katherine glanced back at the servants, who paused to watch the two bond. As soon as they noticed Katherine gazing their direction, they abruptly continued the last of their work and left the room.

"What? We'll be there."

"What happened?" Asked Katherine as soon as Rebecca hung up.

"Elijah has some news. Bad news for you, that is. Someone killed your human."

Katherine's mind instantly flashed the image of her apartment building's landlord, James. What a waste of such a handsome thing. She had planned to turn him into a human once things settled in a little. She was getting a little lonely and needed a new boy-toy.

But of course. Dariea had opted for another way to piss Katherine off, but failed as always.

"So pathetic," murmured Katherine absentmindedly.

"Excuse me?"

"She thinks that I'm gonna come after her to take revenge. What a cheap method to try to lure me out."

Katherine kept telling herself that she should be glad that Dariea kept using the most predictable and light methods to punish Katherine for not providing her with the information about which rituals would bring her younger sister back. She had lied to Dariea that with witchcraft, Vampires could be brought back to life. But that was back when Katherine had an actual witch-buddy to hide behind.

"Elijah also said to meet him in the common room."

* * *

When Rebecca and Katherine entered the common room, Elijah was sitting with a guest. Not a vampire, but Katherine suspected him to be a supernatural creature.

"Ah, Katherine. Just as beautiful as it had been rumored for centuries." A tall man with black hair and olive tanned skinned stood up to greet her, but Katherine held a hand out.

"I hope they also mentioned that I'm not stranger-friendly."

Elijah chuckled in the background. "She used to be though," he said, probably remembering the time when he had first met Katherine.

Resisting the urge to give Elijah a dirty look, Katherine crossed her arms and turned her gaze back to the stranger. "Who and what are you?"

"My name is Adriano Capello," introduced the young man himself to Katherine, while holding her gaze intently.

He certainly wasn't a Salvatore, but Katherine turned to Rebecca and said, "He's Italian." And waggled her eyebrows at her suggestively.

"I prefer them with sparkly blue eyes actually," replied Rebecca dismissively, but appeared to be fighting a smile.

Adriano flashed a flirtatious grin at Katherine, but Elijah stood up and interjected, "Adriano happens to know Dariea quite intimately. He has offered to help us out a little here as a favor."

At this moment, Katherine admired Elijah a little; he was even more focused than Katherine expected herself to be. They met eyes briefly, and Katherine tried to communicate some gratefulness to him. He returned a brief smile.

"Yes, that's right. I used to be her hunting buddy," said Adriano smoothly. "She was extremely fond of that Salvatore boy." Cocking an eyebrow, he indicated to her exactly what Katherine needed; leverage.

* * *

**Please leave me some feedback (I love to read them ;)). Also, any suggestions as to what supernatural creature Adriano could be?**

**A. **


	4. Krasimir

**~ Chapter 4 ~**

* * *

_"Katarina!" _

_ Krasimir kept calling after her, but she had enough of him. She just wanted to get away to be alone for a while._

_ It was true. She never loved him, but she had expected that he would. They had been friends since childhood, and their friendship transformed into something more, but not enough, it seemed. _

_ "Go away!" Katarina picked up her dress and sprinted away as fast as she could. This would be the last time she'd ever talk to him._

_ Unfortunately, Krasimir had caught up to her a little too easily, to Katarina's dismay. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her back. "Why are you angry? You said that you didn't want to marry me. And now that Father has chosen Anna to be my wife, you suddenly change your mind?"_

_ It wasn't that simple. Katarina did not want to marry him. He was nice, but not someone she could see herself falling in love with. But it was worse to have a child out of wedlock. Had Krasimir proposed to her before his father had to choose someone else for him, she wouldn't have to humiliate herself like this. _

_ "I said that when we were children, Krasimir." _

_ "We were fourteen. Old enough to know."_

_ She sighed angrily as tears streamed down her face. What was she going to do now? The bump was growing bigger and becoming more apparent. But clueless Krasimir did not seem to notice. Her father would kill her if he found out. And of course, Krasimir would be safely in another village by then, with his new wife._

_ What made it worst of all was that she had tried to indicate that she wanted him to marry her for the past couple of months and he never noticed, or just ignored it._

_ "Katarina, look at me. I don't want you to be angry with me."_

_ "That is too late now. I hate you." And with that, she ran off, and Krasimir didn't chase after her this time…_

* * *

When Katherine woke up, she found that her face was wet with tears. The rays of sunlight that were peeking through the blinds made her feel oddly pleasant. Her emotions were still mixed at the memory of Krasimir; the first boy she had ever been with. It was so long ago.

Katherine wondered what life would have been like if she had just avoided him. Maybe she would have just met another boy, married him and had a big happy family. Like her mom. Happy until they were all killed off…

As much as she regretted the mistakes she made back then, she knew that now that she was a vampire, she wasn't as defenceless as her family. Until, of course, there was trouble with other supernatural creatures. Life just wasn't fair. Never was.

"Wait…," whispered Katherine as she realized that she had just _dreamed_ something. This meant that she had slept. Or half-slept, since she saw a centuries old memory of hers. One that she had kept deeply buried until today.

It had been about two days since she had fed. The only reason she didn't realize that was that because of the whole trouble-catching-up-with-her situation. Oh, and she was sharing a mansion with two Originals. Stuff like that tends to distract one.

Images of Krasimir's curly dark hair, and lively smile haunted her as she walked down the stairs to find the house empty. _Perfect_.

She needed a hunt. Alone.

As she was about to walk out the backdoor, she found Elijah sitting on the back in his armchair while staring out the window. He was in a new suit, a grey one this time and completely lost in thought. If Katherine just snuck out, he probably wouldn't have noticed. But then again...

"And where are you headed today?"

Katherine closed her eyes at the irritation of having been caught. But of course he would. And he would probably not let her leave the mansion, even for a hunt because Dariea had made sure of Katherine's house arrest.

Yesterday it was her foxy landlord. Today any person that she had ever interacted with could be killed.

According to Adriano, some friend of Dariea's had seen Katherine at Mystic Falls, and was being followed since then. Once they'd realized that Katherine was planning on staying in England, they thought of her as an easier target. Little did they realize that she had Originals by her side.

"I'm hungry. Don't worry. I'll find something in the woods." That is, if Dariea's watchdogs weren't there. Now that she was completely alert though, she wouldn't be as easy a target as they thought of her.

"I see. Rebecca's out there as well, so you should be safe enough. I'll check up on you if you're missing for too long," he replied coolly.

Katherine frowned. This wasn't the first time Elijah had been nice to her. But seeing him sitting there and looking at her with a concerned look, as if her well-being mattered to him, was strange. And strangely reminded her of Stefan when she had compelled him.

Damon was like Klaus, and Stefan like Elijah, Katherine realized.

"Thanks," she said quickly, but then decided that she needed to talk to him and sat down on the couch to face him properly. As hungry as she was, there was something that had bothered her for a while.

"Yes, Katarina?" Elijah looked at her both curiously and intently.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to remind herself that this was only Elijah. Not very helpful, though.

"Why are you doing this? You've spent centuries chasing after me. I get that Klaus has done horrible things, but why do you feel responsible for everything he did?"

He appeared thoughtful for a moment as he gazed out the window again. "Would you like to go on a walk?"

Katherine peered outside warily, but agreed. She wanted, however, to hunt _alone_ after that. These past couple of days made her feel caged, and she needed to get away from that feeling. Petrifying a couple of bunnies and deer would hopefully do the trick.

As they walked past the rose bushes, Katherine froze. "This is…"

"Yes, we redecorated the place a little and had part of the mansion rebuild to make it more stable and modern-looking. It was where I stayed for the past couple of centuries until Rose contacted me that she had found the doppelganger."

Astounded, Katherine wasn't paying any attention anymore. If she closed her eyes for a moment, this place would appear just as it had back when she was human, and love-struck by Klaus.

Massaging her forehead, she felt a headache coming on, as the mixed emotions were messing with her mind.

"I wanted to talk to you about...Tatia." Katherine was afraid that it might've been the wrong topic to bring up, but she needed to get it all out of the way. Now.

Elijah took a deep breath and turned his face away from Katherine's. Aware that this was a touchy topic for him, despite the composed and serious mask he always wore on his face. She also knew for a fact that Katherine and Elena both reminded him of his past love interest.

Seeing that he did not want to say anything, Katherine continued, "Are you helping me out because I remind you of her?"

The reply she received from him was quite frightening, however.

"You believe that I would help you with hope that you might reciprocate my supposed feelings for you?" His voice was harsh, but there was something other than anger in his eyes.

"No, I meant-…"

"Do you realize how insulting that is? Is that how pathetic you think of me, Katarina?"

Elijah was about to walk off, but Katherine grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry, Elijah. I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to make sure that it isn't _her_ that you see when you look at me. I can take care of myself."

It was a bluff, really, but Katherine felt this strange need to know the truth. She had always enjoyed the chase, and part of the chase was to discover what was hidden beneath the exterior of that emotionless face. Although she did not have any romantic expectations from Elijah, or any man, she was convinced that this was something she needed to discover and explore.

"Clearly. I will give you the choice to stay or not, Katarina. But remember, I'm a man of my word and would not _deceive_ anyone as you have."

Immediately afterwards, Elijah was gone and left a wounded Katherine behind. "Well, that was mean of him," she muttered.

* * *

Running as fast as she could with the lack of blood in her body, she scared a few birds away and attempted to attack the biggest animal in the forest. Now that Dariea could be hiding in any corner, Katherine couldn't just simply walk down the road and compel the closest human to offer their necks to her. And unfortunately for her, the Mikaelson mansion was pretty isolated from the human world.

Elijah had wanted to take her out to a walk to show her something, she realized as she raced past the trees. Perhaps the walk was supposed to serve as a reminder. A reminder of a time when things had been pleasant between them. Maybe that was why Elijah went through all this. He was attempting to restore what him and his brother Klaus had destroyed.

After running around for a while, Katherine finally settled for the fox. Biggest animal she could find at the moment, and the wild animal suited her appetite the moment.

Being blood-starved the couple past days made her realize something though; this had to be how Stefan felt. The lack of blood made a vampire closer to being human. Feeling human emotions.

She would have never been so determined to get 'closure' from anyone, let alone Elijah, if she had been her normal self.

"Never imagined you quite this vicious, my dear."

Katherine turned around abruptly, but saw nothing except trees and bushes. "Who's there?"

Leaving the dead fox on the ground, Katherine got up and examined the area around her. Nothing.

Until someone started materializing slowly, from tree bark to a human form. It had eyes like a chameleon. Katherine extracted her fangs and hissed threateningly to the creature. Possibly a shape-shifting friend of Dariea's.

"Katarina, Beautiful, relax. It is I, Adriano." The creature materialized completely, and it truly did look like him. But Katherine knew better than to trust someone who knew Dariea 'intimately'.

Wiping the excess blood around her mouth, she nodded and turned away from him. She had nothing to talk to him about, since he had proven himself pretty useless yesterday. Yes, knowing that Dariea had a thing for Stefan was great and all, but with Elena dead, there was a good chance that Stefan wasn't even in Mystic Falls. No point in going back and risking any future contact with Dariea.

Katherine wasn't planning on hiding forever, but she was planning on a silent and vicious attack, like a lioness who was about to attack a deer.

"Wait! I need to tell you something urgent, Katarina! They are after your friends!"

"I don't have any friends!" She called back. It wasn't entirely true, but she didn't have time to chat around with him. There was a gut feeling telling her that hanging out with a creature that could camouflage himself like that was not a good idea.

"What about the Salvatore brothers? Word has it that you had become a little attached to the people of mystic falls. Even your descendant, _Elena_."

"Elena is dead. Forget it. And the Salvatore brothers can protect themselves." They had to put up with Klaus, after all. As for Elena? A small part of her actually felt like mourning over her death. _Lack of human blood_, Katherine told herself. And the memory of Krasimir. Elena was a descendant of him as well, after all. Somehow, all this tied her back to her human life.

"She is not dead. I was at Mystic Falls just a few hours ago." Katherine turned around to face him, shocked. His dark eyes were serious. "I'm not sure how, but she was turned into a Vampire. And the Salvatore brothers are both with her."

"What…?"

"Yes, and I also saw Dariea there."

* * *

**Please let me know how I'm doing so far, and also- I've been entertaining the idea of making an Elijah-Elena fanfiction because I feel that their chemistry onscreen is worth putting down on paper (not literally, of course). Whatcha think?**

**I realize that I've spelled Katerina/Katarina and Rebecca/Rebekah differently, but let's just pretend that the way I spelled their names is correct.**

**Alsooo, thank you guys for the feedback and suggestions. I crave them. ;)**


	5. Death

**~ Chapter 5 ~**

* * *

"So what is Adriano exactly? A regular shape shifter?" And why was Katherine to trust his words? He was a total creep and seemed to show up in the middle of nowhere with all the answers.

Rebecca shrugged and looked at her brother expectantly. Elijah smiled as if he had waited for this moment to finally answer the big question.

"He's a chameleonic-shape shifter."

They were seated in the common hall, which seemed to have become the new hangout spot for the Originals and the Doppelganger. Odd gang that they were, they lived together harmoniously. For now.

"Well, he said that he saw Dariea in Mystic Falls. What would she want there?" Asked Rebecca, who had walked towards Katherine and Adriano yesterday as they talked. Katherine's hunt turned out to have been less extravagant than Rebecca's, who probably fed on a couple of humans.

Katherine knew what it was. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to share it. Dariea probably believed that Katherine hid the book there. If the book even existed.

"She's going to tear the whole town up," Katherine replied absentmindedly. And find nothing.

"What?" Elijah leaned forward. "Why do you say that?"

Knowing that Elijah was the one who tended to be a little more tolerant and occasionally fond of certain humans, giving him the bad news would be a bit trickier for her now. "Dariea wants the book that I promised her. Since I spend a good amount of time there, she's probably going to think that I hid it there."

"And that wouldn't be a problem for you, right?" Asked Rebecca, in a playful tone.

Confused, Katherine turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Klaus is alive."

Shocked, Katherine stood up and paced back and forth in the room. Klaus being still alive wasn't a problem. The problem was what Adriano had told her.

Back when Katherine had made the deal with Dariea, there was no Doppelganger, meaning an angry Klaus ready to kill Katherine as soon as he saw her. Out of desperation, she had gone to a group of underground vampires who knew someone who could help her.

"Her name is Vigoratus, but she doesn't do anyone any favors. It is not impossible to receive help from her. However, it is most important that you do not go alone to see her."

"What happens if I go alone?" Katherine knew she wouldn't go alone, but she wanted to know what she was dealing with.

The hooded man chuckled sinisterly. "Then your entire quest might prove useless."

She shivered. It would mean death.

They gave her instructions as to where she could find possible allies. And they advised her on choosing allies she wasn't afraid to lose on the way. However, Katherine couldn't be too sure. She had to find someone to go and meet Vigoratus for her.

What Vigoratus had to offer her was a solution to her problem; Klaus. She knew of a way to restore him to being entirely human again. To strip him off of his supernatural abilities and being. Once human again, he would become too frail and weak to defend himself, and smart as he was, he had made many enemies during his centuries of existence.

Of course, there was the matter of Elijah, but Katherine had wanted to find another way to deal with him. Rebecca wouldn't have to be dealt with since she'd be able to be with Stefan without her older brother to get in the way.

"You know of a way to restore my sister?" Dariea had been a pretty pathetic human back then. She'd undertaken desperate measures as Katherine had, and tried to find a method by conversing and making deals with creatures of the night.

"Yes, but you'll have to make a deal with me. And just to warn you beforehand, it won't be a pretty one."

Dariea, after having been changed into a vampire, had gone to Vigoratus, but failed to come back with what would've been Klaus' death sentence. Katherine had been so enraged that she swore to kill Dariea if she ever faced her again.

And she had returned.

Dariea claimed to have completed 'the deed'. Which only meant one thing for Katherine and the rest of the line of vampires turned by Klaus.

Death.

"Katarina!" Elijah was in front of her now, shaking her out of her trance of fear. "Why won't you say anything."

Finally snapped out it, Katherine looked into Elijah's eyes for a moment. She was still incapable of saying anything, but looking into his warm brown eyes made her realize something; Elijah couldn't help her with this one. If Klaus died, she'd die.

And the siblings probably wouldn't be very happy to know that Katherine would be the one who made sure of his death years ago.

"I-I have to go back. To Mystic Falls."

She attempted to walk away as fast as she could, but Elijah caught up with her. "We'll come with you. And you're going to explain everything to us, without having to be compelled."

* * *

Mystic Falls was exactly the way she had left it behind. Boring and full of mystical creatures. Dariea hadn't managed to cause any problems yet, but that probably had to do with the fact that there were older Vampires there to keep her busy for the time being.

"I gave Kol a call yesterday to lead her off. He told her that she'd have to go to the Lockwood cellar during a full moon because that is the only time the 'book' shows itself. She fell for it, and full moon's not until next week."

Katherine and Rebecca broke out it laughter. "This is why she was the perfect choice!"

Smiling along, Elijah asked, "And what is it exactly that she had done that would help you escape Klaus for good?"

"Not so sure if you'd really want to know. Let's just say, I wanted to get rid of Klaus, Dariea failed and I told her to get lost. Only mistake - I didn't stake her."

She left out the part that Dariea had carried out the task. Meaning, Klaus could be a human right now.

They had arrived at Klaus' new mansion and Katherine felt more and more nervous. What if they had led her here to be punished by Klaus? But that couldn't be right. Unless they lied about Dariea. But she wouldn't lie about fulfilling the task. Or would she?

Before they were able to enter though, Elijah whispered, "Klaus."

Afraid that she would see the fragile, human version of Klaus in front of their siblings, Katherine looked up quickly, but to find Tyler standing at the entrance, arms crossed.

Katherine looked questioningly at Rebecca who just shrugged. "What is he doing here?"

"Hello, Katherine." Tyler was facing her now, but the expression on his face was a little too menacing for a mere hybrid minion of Klaus.


	6. Human

**~ Chapter 6 ~**

* * *

"Brother, I appreciate that you have brought in Katarina, but she is useless right now. All that's left is to fulfill my promise to her and make her pay for running." Tyler, or Klaus, speaking in a British accent was not as unnerving as the fact that Klaus was still a threat to her.

Standing behind Elijah, Katherine felt weak and cowardly, but she was afraid for her life. She'd worry about her dignity later on.

"I'm afraid that she is with us now, Klaus. And before you start with telling me how disloyal _we_ are, may I remind you that you have staked us at least once."

Klaus gave his brother a suggestive smile, but Elijah ignored it and led Katherine safely inside. "He's in Tyler's body. If he tries to hurt you, he will be very easy to take care of."

Unsure if it was the car ride that made her sick, Katherine took a seat on the couch. Her head felt like it was being stabbed with icicles and she felt slightly nauseous.

"Would you like some blood bags?" Offered Rebecca, who had recently warmed up to Katherine and possibly saw her as a friend now. Katherine made a mental note to include Rebecca on the list of people she wasn't going to manipulate for personal gain.

"No, thanks." Rubbing her forehead, she willed the pain to go away. "I feel a little sick."

Klaus scoffed. "Karma."

Although she had protested, Elijah gave her a glass filled with human blood, but the metallic and rusty smell made her feel even sicker. She tried to push the cup away, but him being an Original, it was a little too difficult.

"No? No blood?"

Katherine felt like a sick and stubborn little child. "I don't want any," she whined. Elijah immediately put the cup away.

"So Klaus. Tell us about what we have missed. I'm sure that there is an explanation to your new appearance," said Rebecca, her voice lacking sisterly affection.

"Well, my last doppelganger is a now a Vampire, which makes me sick just to look at _her_." So it was confirmed. Elena was a vampire. Was that what was making Katherine feel lesser than a vampire? So weak, that she was barely able to keep her eyes open…

* * *

The smell of food was almost overwhelming. It reminded her of another time, a time that was too far back for her to remember properly. A time when food, human food, was a basic means of survival and pleasure.

_"Katarina, food is ready!" Shouted her mother in Bulgarian. Although Katarina felt a little guilty about not helping out her mother while cooking, her hunger overrode that feeling and she ran eagerly into the kitchen to see what her mother had prepared for lunch._

Still a little too weak to open her eyes, Katherine let the smell of freshly cooked food overwhelm her for a moment. "Mamma?"

_"You are not a child anymore, Katarina! Help your mother!" Unlike Mamma, her father was a little less understanding. Katarina was young. And she wanted to enjoy her youth for as long as it lasted. _

_ But it wasn't her say under her father's roof. After all, he provided for the whole family. _

When she attempted to blink several times, Katherine realized that she was lying in a bed. In Mystic Falls. In Klaus' mansion.

"She's starting to wake. Maybe she's hungry." Rebecca leaned in to inspect her and Katherine felt the urge to push her away. Why were there people in her bedroom?

"Wha-what are you all doing here?" Asked Katherine disoriented. The three siblings surrounded the bed, along with a young girl, a servant perhaps and stared at her expectantly.

"Here, Katarina. Eat some food. Maybe it will heal you," instructed Elijah gently, treating her like a sick patient. She really did feel like one though, so she sat up obediently. Once she took a bite from the piece of fresh bred he offered her, Katherine greedily ate more.

"She's eating," said Klaus bewildered. His studying gaze made Katherine feel self-conscious, but she ignored him as best as she could.

Rebecca sat down next to her on the bed and glared at her brother. "Doesn't prove anything, Brother. We eat too, sometimes."

"Yes, but not to sate our hunger. Her stomach growled like a human's just moments ago," explained Klaus.

He gestured to the girl next to him to come to him and bit her in the neck. Katherine screamed at the sight of it, but Elijah stopped his brother, while Rebecca attempted to calm a frightened Katherine down.

"Leave, Brother."

"I just wanted to see if she would get hungry as well. Don't you see her eyes and teeth?" They looked at Katherine for a moment. "She can no longer extract her fangs anymore."

"What are you trying to imply, Brother?" Elijah faced his brother fearlessly. It was strange to watch Klaus' words come out of Tyler's mouth, but Katherine was slowly adjusting to it.

"She's human. Again," stated Klaus simply.

Katherine must've heard wrong, or something. Was this another one of her dreams? A distorted memory? There was no way she could be human again. She wouldn't allow it!

"He's l-lying," stuttered Katherine, suddenly afraid now that she was possibly trapped in a room with three blood-sucking predators. She wasn't afraid of Elijah, but the other two were a little unpredictable.

"We'll be the judge of that." Elijah leaned in closer to examine her face. "Vampires don't have bags under their eyes from lack of sleep." Then he inched even closer and tilted his neck. Breathing in her scent, he said, "I can smell your blood, Katarina. Human blood."

Shocked, Katherine looked into his eyes. "No…" Her eyes were about to tear up, but Elijah hushed her. His closeness caused her breath to quicken. _Breath!_, thought Katherine shocked.

"Give her some time to deal with her situation. I'll look after her, so do not worry about an unwanted burden, Klaus." Elijah smiled reassuringly at Katherine, but she did not feel entirely comforted.

"I will take care of her too," said Rebecca loyally. It was obvious that Klaus had not only lost his doppelganger and most of his hybrid minions, but also his siblings. Well, not all of them. There was Kol she had to beware of. Young and impulsive.

* * *

Being human wasn't something easy to get used to. Her senses were dulled, and Katherine did not have her leverage of hiding in the shadows and being impossibly fast. Only her hunger for blood that used to cause her to become senseless with hunger was the one thing she wouldn't miss about being a vampire.

But life was no longer easier.

"Elena?"

When Katherine looked up, her eyes met Stefan's green ones. Her stupid human heart jumped at the sight of him. "Stefan? Hey." Since she had impersonated Elena several times, she gave it another try, although he was very likely to figure the truth out quickly.

As he walked closer to her, his eyes were bloodshot. Either he was drunk, or he had cried a lot. Had Katherine still her supernatural senses, she wouldn't have to wonder. She'd get her answers in less than three seconds.

They were outside the Grill, the weather being bright enough to keep ring-less vampires away from her, but of course not a Salvatore brother.

Appearing as Elena-ish as possible, Katherine asked worried, "Stefan, have you fed at all lately? You're not looking too good."

Still a little unsure, Stefan studied her, but nodded nonetheless. "I c-couldn't. Not a-after what h-happened." Because he looked a little unstable, Katherine walked towards him quickly and supported him as best as she could. It was a bit of a challenge, since she wasn't super strong anymore.

Then he suddenly grabbed her by the throat. "Katherine."

When she looked up again, his eyes were filled with icy anger. "Let go of me," she choked, but he pressed harder.

Seeing that she was pretty much defenceless against him, Stefan's grip on her throat lightened a little. He inspected her a little closer again. "Why do you smell like a human?"

"Is that supposed to be an insult, or something?" She was able to speak better now, but wished he'd let go already. Searching her pocket for something sharp, she only found her new cellphone. She didn't want to smash it into his face and break it, so she had to find another option.

"No, it isn't. But your blood. It's definitely human. What happened to you?"

What happened was that the stupid brat Dariea 'completed her task', but on Katherine instead of Klaus, as revenge. It was Klaus who was supposed to be the fragile and defenceless human.

"You ruined my life, Katherine. I could take you out this instant," threatened Stefan, the insanity obvious in his eyes.

"Why didn't you do it when I was a vampire? Too difficult?" Katherine knew it wasn't a good move, but maybe damaging his ego would maybe do wonders.

Stefan chuckled darkly. The new and evil Stefan was definitely un-sexy. "Because you were useful back then. And now you're useless and I can drain your blood. And I will. I never chose to be a vampire, you know?" He said grudgingly.

"You have a choice now," interrupted someone. The voice sounded like Elijah's, but with her weaker hearing it could've been Kol, or someone else. "Let her go unharmed, or I'll rip your heart out."

When she was released, Katherine gasped for air. Stefan disappeared without a word, and Elijah knelt down next to her.

Katherine had spent decades taking care of herself, and this was the first time since she had turned that someone else was looking out for her. Injured dignity aside, Katherine felt something she hadn't for a long time; gratitude.

* * *

"Would you like me to get you anything else, uhh…?"

Slightly annoyed, Katherine glanced up at Matt. A very attractive, blue-eyed football stud. But so clueless…

"It's Katherine. And in case you want to know, I'm human now. So I don't bite. Anymore." Maybe she'd make him her boy-toy. Although very good-looking, he lacked something. She craved a chivalrous, heroic guy. A little like….

Shaking the thought from her, she eagerly grabbed her fries and burger from Matt's hands and started eating away. Where was the rest of the Scooby-gang? The hateful witch, obnoxious blonde vampire, and Damon Salvatore.

"Oh. And you expect me to believe that?"

"Wanna arm-wrestle?" Suggested Katherine casually as she stuffed a bunch of fries in her mouth and relished the taste of ketchup and potatoes. "I'm as weak as any human now." Even if Matt attempted to hurt her, she'd be able to deal with a human since it was easier to hurt them.

"Uhh, no thanks. You'd probably fake it. But I'll play along for now, if it makes you happy."

He turned to leave, so Katherine quickly called after him, "Come and sit with me after your shift, Mr. Gorgeous-blue-eyes!"

"I'll try, Ms. uhh, Elena's-Doppelganger!" Matt gave her a mischievous smile. Wow, did he warm up to her fast.

Frowning, she replied, "Hey! I gave you a sexy nickname." He laughed in reply, but Katherine knew that sitting around and stuffing food in her stomach would be worth the wait. Matt wasn't a difficult catch, which ruined the hunt a little, but he'd do for now.

"Getting acquainted with your fellow _humans_?"

Katherine felt the blood being drained from her face. A natural _human_ response to an unpleasant situation like Dariea, for example.

"What the hell do you want from me now?" Hissed Katherine furiously. Because of the nature of the Reversal, Katherine couldn't simply be bitten and turn into a vampire again. There was a difficult and challenging procedure she had to go through to become a creature of the night again.

Which made Dariea a huge threat to her.

Dariea smiled darkly as she took a seat opposite to Katherine. "Oh, you know what I want." Then she leaned forward. "Revenge."

* * *

**Heyy guys! Sorry for the long time I took to update. Life's been keeping me quite busy and all. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter - please leave a comment, suggestion, or some constructive feedback!**


	7. Sacrifice

**~ Chapter 7 ~**

* * *

"Don't look so glum. I did you a favor, Darling."

Kidnapping and handling her fragile human body harshly as wasn't Katherine's definition of a 'favor'. Once she had even tried biting Katherine, but Elijah or Rebecca must've put a couple of drops of vervain in her coffee earlier.

Dariea's reaction of the vervain was nothing but amusing. It was the only time during the three-hour ride Katherine had felt any joy.

"Don't try to justify your stupidity, Dariea. It's pointless," retorted Katherine nonchalantly.

But Dariea snorted in reply. "You're so pathetic. Don't you realize that now that Elena is no longer any use to Klaus, he'll use you instead?"

Shivering, Katherine turned away from Dariea. She was sitting in the passenger seat and her kidnaper had the _humanity_ not to tie her up. But then again, she didn't have to. Katherine had lost all her advantages.

"That may be true, but Elijah-…"

"Oh, Elijah! How could I forget that dark-haired heartthrob? You know, I didn't know you dig decent guys, considering what a slut you are. I heard that first you had those two boys, Klaus and Elijah, and then the Salvatore Brothers became your little boy toys. I wonder, who's next?"

Now Katherine really wished she still had her supernatural abilities. She'd hurt Dariea so much that what she had just said would've been her last words.

And she couldn't believe she was complaining about sharing a mansion with the Originals. So much more pleasant than what she had gotten herself into.

But Katherine had a plan. Or rather, she'd improvise as soon as she saw a leverage or weakness she could use to attack Dariea, tie her up in vervain-soaked ropes and torture her into finding a way to reverse everything. She didn't want to start the whole process of turning into a vampire. The transitioning and adjusting was the most painful part.

"Elijah had once attempted to hand you over to his brother before, right?"

"Yeah," replied Katherine coolly, but then remembered; "But he had a back-up plan to save me."

Dariea snorted. "And you actually believe that? Did you know that history can repeat itself? What if Elijah comes all the way here, just to hand you over to his brother? _Again._"

It was during this moment, when Katherine realized how love and affection deprived she had been for the past centuries. And now, as a human, she no longer was able to compel men to love her. There was Elijah, but had never expressed any sorts of affection for her before.

Throughout the rest of the ride, both of them were very quiet. And Katherine felt her heart tearing as she had no choice but to allow the despair and heart break run over her.

* * *

Awoken with a hard shove, Katherine sat up disoriented almost instantly. She was slightly used to the mistreatment now and decided it would be useless to complain. Pointless to fight. And too late at night for her to make any hopes of escape.

"Welcome to my little place. Not as neat as Klaus' place, but it'll do for now. Make yourself home." Dariea dropped her leather jacket on a chair near the entrance as Katherine walked inside the little cottage. Since Dariea had her supernatural powers at her advantage, it wouldn't be wise to disobey her right now.

"You're here alone?" Katherine shivered at the thought of being stuck with a shallow vampire like Dariea for the next couple of weeks or so, depending on when Dariea decided to kill her.

"Nope. My boyfriend, our friends, and soon my little sister."

Dariea was already in the kitchen, while Katherine glanced around in the hallway. It was quite dark here, and the whole place was lit by candles, making it all appear very sinister.

"And by boyfriend, she means me, Darling."

Katherine whirled around and found herself facing Adriano. Of course. How did she know?

"Ah. So you're the sick bastard that basically lied to Elijah and the rest of us, leading me right into Dariea's arms."

Appearing next to her, Dariea draped her arms around his neck. "Isn't he just a _darling_?"

If Katherine had to hear anyone using the word 'darling' again, she was sure that she'd barf. There were some sounds of approaching footsteps, and it revealed to be a group of people. Supernatural people, presumably, since Dariea insisted on having a pack of body guards.

"Katherine." A massively build, dark-haired guy walked in, exposing his fangs as he smiled. "More beautiful than they described you, eh?"

Dariea scoffed. "She's not. What is it with you guys and your interest in this slut?"

"She's got beautiful brown eyes and soft skin," replied another man with tanned skin and raven black hair. "I'm Dimas, by the way."

"So, what are you planning to do with her? She's useless now that she's human." A tall, redhead, waltzed in, watching Katherine disgusted with her green eyes. She had a slight accent that Katherine couldn't place.

"Oh, she'll be useful alright. I heard that sacrifices are quite popular when it comes to getting what you want."

"What makes you think you'll get what you want?" Asked Katherine, suddenly aware that Dariea was completely ignorant of the consequences. Just attempting to raise the dead attracted the worst of the worst. The act itself was not going to be worth it in the end.

"I will get it. And I will keep trying." The desperation in Dariea's eyes was beyond obvious. It was insanity.

* * *

"So, you are planning on just leaving her with Dariea?"

Rebecca just had to be so bold during times like these. Of course he wouldn't. But without a plan to get past Klaus and rescuing her from that small-minded girl, Elijah would prove to be useless. Klaus had already stated his interest in experimenting with Katherine's blood and knowing him, he'd completely destroy her.

After living, figuratively speaking, Elijah had come to the conclusion that destiny was perhaps real after all. And if it was, then Katherine's transformation to being a human again was her chance to live her life the way she had before Klaus had entered it.

"Of course he won't, Rebecca. He's in love with her." Klaus put an arm around Elijah's shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

Neither wanting to admit it or deny in front of Klaus, Elijah contemplated on a few methods to use that would help him avoid any further future interactions with Klaus. He'd already ruined enough.

Before Elijah had a chance to walk away though, Klaus blocked his path. "I can help you get her back, Brother. She'll be safe and sound."

"And what would be the catch here?"

Smiling darkly, Klaus replied," Well, I want to use her for a few experiments, but I will promise you, I won't drain her. You can turn her back into a vampire and everything will be okay again."

But Elijah knew it would be all much more complicated than that. Katherine had been involved with the underground decades ago. And regaining her humanity again meant that she wouldn't be able to turn back so easily.

And did Elijah really want to take that away from her? A chance to a normal human life?

It wasn't easy, or usual, for a vampire to become human again. Had that been the case, he would have chosen to be human a long time ago. Katherine must have done something in the past that allowed her to return into her human state.

But what could it have been?


	8. Saviour

**~ Chapter 8 ~**

* * *

Katherine should've been killed a long time ago, but a gut feeling told Klaus that it would've been a bad idea. He was aware of the fact that there was a cure for a vampire, but how in the world had Katherine acquired it? How was she even aware of the five? Or had she found another way? Perhaps a deal with the devil?

It had been about two weeks since he had returned into his body again, lost a hybrid and a cure. Elena, the vampire, had been his original option to cure and take blood from since he had the advantage of a team of vampires, werewolves, a witch and hunter that would do anything to safe Elena and restore his hybrid army.

Smart as she was, she killed the key to the cure, which meant that Klaus had to put his backup plan into force; Katherine.

Some miserable creature held her captive, and since Elijah and Rebekah would be capable enough on their own, Klaus was going to make sure that everything stayed status quo in Mystic Falls until he received Katherine's blood, made more hybrids and left this damned town for good.

There was still the case with Caroline, but she had always the option to come along with him. And his hybrids, of course, whom Tyler had been devoting his time corrupting.

* * *

Since his sister had insisted on staying in Mystic Falls with Klaus for the time being, Elijah had to go on without his siblings to rescue Katherine. This town just seemed to be too dear to Rebekah and Klaus, who seemed to be busy with his own plots at the moment.

It had been a week since Elijah had been trying to track Dariea down, and so far it hadn't proved to be successful until he ran into that fool, Adriano. When the shape shifter was hiding from his girlfriend, he proved to be very reckless, considering that he openly mingled with humans in his normal form after having messed with an original.

All it took was a quick compulsion and Elijah had received the information he needed from the traitor, whom he planned on punishing soon after finding Katherine.

"I took a look around the house earlier in the morning and there are about five of them, including Katherine," clarified Julius, one of Klaus' hybrids that were to accompany Elijah. The other one, Raj, was rather quiet, but completed his tasks swiftly and without hesitation.

"Dariea's guards are disadvantaged, I take it, so I should be able to go in myself. As soon as I am inside, go around the house to make sure that no one escapes."

Both hybrids nodded and backed off to let Elijah walk rapidly towards the house. From what he'd gathered from Adriano, the house belonged to a woman named Shelly Grane, whom Elijah had to track down to receive permission to enter her house. She didn't live in there at the moment, but it still legally belonged to her, thus making it possible to walk into the house without a problem.

In a split second, Elijah grabbed the door, ripped it off and then threw it inside. The element of surprise was no use at the moment because of whom he was facing. A little scare would be sufficient for them to surrender. That is if they were smart enough to do so.

"Wha-.."

Elijah grabbed the tall man by his throat and threw him against the wall. This wouldn't kill the vampire, but he was definitely unconscious. A red-haired werewolf, Elijah assumed, charged at him in full speed, only to have his heart ripped out right after.

"Two down, two more to go. Give me Katarina, and I will let you go in one piece," called Elijah out. Two seconds later, he heard Katherine's low whimpers and watched her as she was being pushed down the stairs by Dariea.

Catching her immediately, Elijah made sure not to hurt the already-fragile Katherine, who looked as if she'd been starved for a week. What was Dariea planning to do with her? To take her revenge on Katherine by slowly killing her?

Or was there another reason as to why Katherine had been kept alive all this time?

"Elijah! Dariea and the shape shifter had escaped!" Raj and Julius stood at the door. They couldn't come in since they hadn't been invited in, but they looked alright.

Julius cleared his throat. "There were two others waiting nearby to attack. We took care of them, but I think that they were all aware of us coming."

"I compelled Adriano to forget, but that was perhaps the whole point of him sitting openly in the public for me to question him." Elijah should've just killed Adriano on the spot. At least Dariea would've not tried to outsmart him ever again. All that mattered now is that they had Katarina. Elijah would have to track the rest of Dariea's team down and kill each one of them for helping her later on.

"What's that smell?" Asked Raj, looking around worriedly. Elijah stood up, Katherine scooped up in his arms, and inspected the area once more. Then, there was suddenly an explosion and Elijah was forced to run out as fast as possible. Some of the vervain that seemed to have been in the bomb at splattered on the hybrids faces and they screamed in agony.

Katherine continued whimpering, hiding her face in Elijah's chest. "It's alright, Katarina. We're getting you somewhere safe and some food."

They quickly made it back into the car, once the hybrids had recovered from the attack. Elijah needed to get Katherine some food and have her get some rest as soon as possible, so that he could question her about what had happened during the past two weeks.

Something strange crept at the corner of his heart though, as she was laying in his arms, drifting to sleep. An unfamiliar feeling that made him look away, out the window and wonder what in the world it could possibly be.

* * *

This past week had been probably the worst of Katherine's life. From Dariea's constant taunts and insults, to the fact that they had been disturbing every second of sleep, all the while refusing to give in to Katherine's pleadings for some food.

Being human hadn't been this awful back when Katherine had a family and lived in her homeland. After centuries of making enemy after enemy, being human was a threat to her existence. And she had been warned back then. When she had gone to ask about turning Klaus back to a human. _They_ had told her that it wouldn't be easy to turn her back into a vampire again. It was possible to do it the normal way, but it would lead her to insanity.

And according to Elijah's update on her doppelganger, Elena was suffering from that kind of insanity too. Katherine wondered what it was that Elena had done that turned her into mess.

"Elijah asked me to tell you to join him for dinner tonight. Bulgarian food, just as you had requested earlier," said Julius, the shorter hybrid, with curly blonde hair and full lips, after he had knocked and peaked in from the corner of the door.

When he left, Katherine finally got out of her bed to inspect her appearance in the mirror. Not bad, considering what she had gone through, just three days ago. Smiling happily, she found herself looking forward to having dinner with Elijah.

But then she suddenly noticed that some of the ends of her dark curls had been chopped off. _Oh no, _thought Katherine horrified. That part of the nightmare she had to endure the last two weeks had been real. Dariea had mentioned needing Katherine's hair for the process of sacrificing Katherine's life for Dariea's sister's.

When looking down at her arm, she saw scars that indicated that blood had been withdrawn from her as well.

"That satanic little b…."

* * *

**Yes, yes. It has taken me forever to update, but college has kept me quite busy. I really missed VD this Thursday since they didn't put the next episode on, which is why I'm going to continue writing until the next episodes. I'll probably just update it every single time there is a long break between the VD series on TV, just so that my story sort of goes along with their plot. **

**Hope you guys liked it! :D**


	9. Reborn

**~ Chapter 9 ~**

* * *

Katherine was definitely a narcissist. There was no question about it. Having suffered from the trauma that she had, Katherine had no choice but to shut down emotionally.

Even now, as she sat across to Elijah, she refused to show any emotion. He'd invited her for a nice and quiet dinner with him after having been kidnapped and tortured by Dariea. The human Katherine was no longer as innocent as she once had been, Elijah noticed as he mentally compared her to the girl she had been centuries ago…

"Would you like to talk about the incident?" He watched her as she shook her head and silently grabbed her knife and fork to cut the steak on her plate. The room was dimmed and only the fireplace and a few candles offered them some light.

Remembering that Katherine was human again and did not see as well as she used to, Elijah gestured the servant standing by the door to turn the light on the chandelier on to accommodate his guest.

Then something caught his eyes; "What happened to your hair?"

Katherine stopped cutting at her steak, but her eyes were still lowered. "Dariea happened. She cut a few inches right here," she lifted a strand of her left side of the head. "And here."

"Perhaps for a sacrifice? Or witchcraft?"

Frowning, she looked up at Elijah.

"What is it, Katarina?" He asked curious.

"You sound so casual about it. This is my life at stake here. The life I've been fighting to keep for the past couple of centuries." She breathed angrily for a few moments, but then calmed down and apologized.

Normally, he would've been offended by her rude manner of addressing him, but he actually found her little human emotions amusing. Not that he showed it, of course.

"You're going to have to give me more information, Katarina, if you'd like me to help you. What is it that had begun this whole problem with Dariea?"

"Her sister died. Dariea was a pathetic girl who could be easily manipulated, and she also happened to have a hobby of researching legends and old supernatural historical stories, so I decided to make some use of her. I promised to bring her sister back. And since she wouldn't believe that I was capable of helping her, I exposed myself and showed her that I am a vampire."

"Why did you not just compel her?" Interrupted Elijah, who was even more intrigued by this story now.

"Because the little witch already made sure to take vervain regularly. Somehow she had discovered the existence of vampires and wanted to pathetically protect herself. Plus, she seemed gullible enough already to help me out. What then happened was that we had found a way to make Klaus human again. To reverse it all and give me the opportunity to kill him for good so that I could live peacefully again."

Katherine stopped quickly to put some food into her mouth. "But, something went wrong and I decided that Dariea was too messed up to work with. I left her and lo, she made sure to turn herself into a vampire. So compelling her to leave me alone would've been useless anyways."

"And now she's after revenge," said Elijah, looking serious. He hadn't touched anything on his plate, while Katherine was struggling to speak and eat as much as possible.

She nodded. "Yes. But I don't understand why she needs my hair and blood."

Suddenly Elijah jumped up in shock. Katherine was slowly starting to turn blue, and with his vision, he could already see that she was starting to choke a bit.

Dariea wanted to replace Katherine's soul with her dead sisters.

"E-elija-…" Katherine was on her knees now with her hands on her throat. Elijah quickly ran towards Katherine and brought his wrist to her mouth. Now was the perfect timing.

Puncturing little holes into his wrist with his fangs, he allowed the blood to drip down her throat. Holding her safely in his arms, he waited to Katherine to pass away.

* * *

It had to have worked. Dariea was sure of it. And the witch had assured that the transference had worked. Stella, her dear sister, was now supposed to reside in Katherine's body.

Since she was going to be facing the Originals, Dariea had made sure to bring her entire crew of werewolves and vampires along, including her boyfriend, who had camouflaged countless times to keep his eyes on Katherine.

Entering the mansion as instructed, Dariea walked inside, only taking her boyfriend and her trusty werewolf with her.

Of course, she didn't appear very welcome to a very angry looking Elijah.

"Are you truly that dim-witted that you walked into an Original's premises after messing with him?"

Dariea scoffed, albeit feeling slightly frightened. "I didn't mess with you. Just Katherine. It's our little business, not yours."

"If you mess with Katherine, you are messing with me," Elijah reminded her firmly.

"Oh, yes. I forgot. She's your girlfriend. Oops, I guess I picked up a fight with an Original, didn't I?"

He rose an eyebrow and was about to answer her when Klaus walked in. "Indeed. I'm afraid my brother has fallen for a girl that is no more. Katherine is gone. But Stella is back.

"What?" Elijah gritted his teeth and grabbed his brother by the collar. "You were part of this?"

Klaus brushed him off, and gestured to the girl that was no longer Katherine who was standing quietly by the corner. "Say hello to your sister, Stella. But wait, you have promised me something, Dariea. You will only have your sister back until you fulfill your part of our agreement."

Smiling manically, Dariea reached into her bag and gave Klaus three blood bags filled with Katherine's blood. Since her sister was to reside in Katherine's body, she had refused to take any more blood than that.

After handing the blood bags over, Stella, in Katherine's form, walked towards Dariea smiling. Despite the fact that she didn't look the way she had used to, Dariea knew that it was her sister's happy soul that was there.

"I've missed you so much, Stella," said Dariea, as tears were falling down her cheek. She'd waited for this moment many years. Decades.

"Well, I didn't miss you, Dariea," replied Stella, who then extracted her fangs and zoomed towards Dariea, knocking her off her feet and into the wall.

Adriano and Felix were held back by Klaus and Elijah. _What was going on_? Dariea was whimpering as Katherine held her by her throat, with vampire –strength.

"There's something we have to tell you, Dariea," started Elijah.

"Yes, his girlfriend Katherine is a vampire again, your plan did not work out, and I got enough blood to create some more hybrids out of your lovely werewolf friends. It's a win-win for all of us, right?" Asked Klaus, smiling, while holding Felix effortlessly with one arm around his throat.

Elijah gave his brother a look, but didn't say anything.

Seeing all her hard work being thrown out of the window, Dariea started sobbing after Katherine finally released her.

"We are willing to provide you with some closure, though," exclaimed Klaus as another person entered the room.

"Hello, Dariea. I have a message from your sister, Stella. I have just talked to her."

* * *

**Hey Readers! We're going to reach the end soon! Please comment and tell me how I'm doing so far. If there's anything unclear, please let me know so that I can clarify it in the upcoming chapters. Thanks! :D**


	10. Transition

**~ Chapter 10 ~**

* * *

"You're the witch that was supposed to help me!" Yelled Dariea enraged. Katherine could understand Dariea's anger right now. It was the same feeling she had decades ago when she thought she was one step closer to turning Klaus human and having the opportunity to kill him once and for all.

The witch, a woman of medium height and thin frame walked slowly towards Dariea. "Listen, child. Your sister Stella doesn't want to come back. Once you're dead, you stay dead. She's no longer part of this world. And she doesn't want to be anymore. Raising her from the dead would just result her in behaving like a complete zombie."

Katherine looked back at Dariea who covered her face with her hands again, sobbing harder than before. Hadn't Dariea tortured Katherine for days, she might have actually felt bad for her. Turning back into a vampire made Katherine a little sensitive and prone to reacting emotional. She took a few steps back so that Dariea's sorrow wouldn't affect her as well.

It had turned out that Klaus had taken care of business way before Katherine had turned human, meaning that Klaus had made sure that the witch worked solely only for him. And doppelganger blood is all he needed after all.

"Alright then. I am going to take off now. And thank you for bringing werewolves onto my property, Dariea. Nice working with you." Klaus smiled smugly as he grabbed the bag of blood bags and walked out of the main hall, Dariea's werewolf friend following him.

She didn't react. Instead, she continued sobbing.

Katherine on the other hand headed upstairs to change out of the long, deep cherry red dress she had been wearing since her transition. It probably wasn't going to be a good idea to wear Rebekkah's dress when going for her first hunt after her second transition to a vampire…

"Wait a minute. Where is Rebekkah?" Asked Katherine, turning around to look at Elijah, who just shrugged in response.

"I am going to go and look for her after I lead Dariea and Adriano out of here." Elijah instantly appeared in front of Dariea and looked her straight into the eyes. "You will leave this town and never bother Katarina ever again."

He compelled Adriano to leave as well. Then he turned to Katherine, and said, "You know what? I will never allow myself to forget compelling these fools beforehand. So much could have been prevented."

Katherine smiled. "Well, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?"

Smiling back, he appeared next to her, put his arm around her shoulder and led her outside. _Screw it_, thought Katherine. _I'll just buy Rebekkah a new dress_.


	11. Finale

~ FINALE ~

* * *

"I've lived with you guys for over three months now. I don't think I still qualify as a guest anymore."

It was beautiful out with the birds chirping in the background and the sun rays kissing her face. Katherine had to admit that considering the fact that Klaus was a complete psychopath, he still had pretty good taste when it came to interior design and rebuilding a mansion. And the garden – it was even better than the one in Elijah's mansion in England. Not that Katherine would've admitted that to him.

Elijah walked towards the bridge Katherine was standing on, while she was admiring the little river that ran under the bridge. Her once dead heartbeat, the one that she'd neglected so long because of all the focus and time she'd spent on running and looking out for herself, was now beating really fast whenever Elijah was around.

"I suppose not. What is that term that they use again today? Oh, yes. Roommate. That is what Rebekkah had referred to you as from the moment she returned to us."

Turned out that it was Klaus who had stabbed his own sister again and left her rotting in her coffin. As soon as Elijah found out, he removed the stake and made sure that Klaus would leave her alone for good. Now that Klaus had his hybrids anyways, he was happier than ever and probably more pleasant than before.

So was Rebekkah, who was taking a romantic little stroll with the human boy, Matt, not too far from where Elijah and her were hanging out. Matt really seemed to take a liking in Rebekkah, who was gleaming with joy.

"Eljiah."

"Yes, Katarina?"

"Have you ever felt as if you were searching for something? Something meaningful to your immortal life?" It was the garden. The atmosphere. It was getting to her, making her curious about odd things.

"Tranquility, maybe?" He asked, leaning a bit over the bridge to look at the water that passed some of the rocks as it made its way to the little waterfall not too far from here.

"Don't you think that it could be love, maybe?" And there she was again. Centuries ago, young and hopeful. Wishing for more.

Elijah smiled quietly for a moment. "I feel peaceful around you, Katarina. And yes, I have always loved you." His eyes met hers, finally, but then she looked away with a sly smile playing on her lips. They were supernatural creatures. There was no hurry.

For a few minutes, they stood next to each other silently, listening to the waterfall. Birds chirping. And Rebekkah giggling. Katherine caught on to her new best friend's giddiness and giggled too.

For old time's sake, she started running off, hoping that Elijah would really catch her this time. Katherine almost believed that he was still standing on the bridge, until he put his arms around her waist and spun her around.

_Yes_, thought Katherine. _I finally found it…_

* * *

Days had passed. Maybe months. Or even years.

Dariea wouldn't be able to tell anyways. She didn't know what to do with herself anymore. Stella was happy where she was. Adriano took off on his own because she'd driven him away. She didn't care about him anymore. Never really did.

Everyone she'd once considered her friends were now as far away from Dariea as possible. This was a loss at its worst.

Lying down on a bench like a homeless drunk, she let the pain of loneliness wash over her again and again.

"I don't think I can make it. I've got an exam tomorrow…come on, George." The girl walking past Dariea giggled into her phone.

_That voice_.

Dariea appeared instantly, looking at the girl straight into the eyes. Long, blonde hair, deep green eyes, and lightly golden skin. "Stella."

Confused, the girl put her phone down. "Uh, no. I'm Penny." She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she studied Dariea. But Dariea didn't care. She'd felt so much pain in the past couple of weeks or months that it didn't measure with it one bit.

"Sorry," said Dariea, looking down. Then she walked off smiling. A doppelganger. This had to be Stella's doppelganger.

Doppelgangers were a rare occurrence. Supernaturals. And easier to use to bring back the dead.

_You're crazy, Dariea. You can't raise the dead._ The voices had been with her since Stella's death.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Aaand we've finally reached the end. I've decided that I wanted to finish it off quickly because of the ideas I have for the next fanfiction (Elena, Stefan, Damon and a bunch of new characters ;))

Please leave me some comments. Did i drag the story a little too long? Should I have moved forward faster? More, or less details? Any other suggestions for a better fanfic - don't be afraid to leave some feedback. If you're too shy, you can always send me a message. Thank you for reading!


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